Only funny looking back...

It is cold here. It is really cold here. How cold you wonder?? Seriously cold.

There is something different about British cold. I have lived in cold before, but Minnesota cold is kinder. Minnesota cold goes away with heat. London cold is brutal; you can't get rid of it. I knew all this was crazy when I was doing it.... but it is only funny looking back. It is March and finally warm enough that all this is funny.

Here is my typical routine when I got home from work:

1. Make sure the heat is on. Check that it's high enough.

2. Close the door on the living room so all the heat stays in.

3. Close the wood shutters over the windows... so all the heat stays in.

4. Put on slippers and wool socks... so all my heat stays in.

5. Wrap up in the super warm and cozy blanket that Mia made for us.

Some days, the first five steps were enough as long as I stayed under the blanket. But..... sometimes it wasn't enough. Those days I had to move on to step 6 and 7~

6. Put on a shower cap and take a scalding hot shower or bath until I raised my core temperature. (This is the magic step. Works every time!)

7. Put on silk long johns from REI-- top and bottoms!

On those cold nights (basically every night November through February) I would also do the following....

8. Sleep under an extra blanket.

9. Wear a hat to bed.

With all of the above steps.... I could usually keep the cold at bay. London's cold is wet and seeps into your bones. It hurts it's so cold, and that is when you are inside the comfort of your own home. Strangely, is doesn't feel as cold outside. Is that God's way of getting Londoners outside all year?

As you can clearly see ~ I am not the only one who thinks it is cold!

The best things in life are... for women only!

In my heart I am a traditionalist. Not in all the bad ways that women fought for years to overcome... but I love traditions! I love getting together with just the girls to celebrate life cycle events and rejoice about experiences that women share. As I look back at my wedding, many of the most touching moments for me were the bridal showers, bachelorette party (hen do), and the bedekken... all girls only events!!



We recently got wonderful news that Sarah and Toni Salati were expecting! Emily and I quickly offered to do a shower if Sarah was going to be back in London for a weekend. She made it happen and so did we! Baby showers... another wonderful girls only tradition. (As a cultural side-note, they don't really do baby showers in the UK.)



Both Sarah and Emily were life savers helping get all the food ready. They chopped, diced, and buttered like I have never seen! I make the Garrison family recipe for chicken salad sandwiches. It was a huge hit! Thanks, Monica! One of the silly little touches that I obsessed about were getting the sandwiches into themed shaped cutouts. Heather had adorable little flowers at my bridal shower, and I thought they were priceless. Sarah~ got little baby feet sandwiches! he, he. Yes, we all know that I am that cheesy.


Of course we did the traditional games: guess the gender and due date, how big is her belly, etc. But, Emily saw a wonderful idea on tv to decorate little onesies. They turned out amazing and were loads of fun to make. I hope little baby Salati is strutting around Budapest in style after our runway worthy efforts. :)

I didn't think I would have time, but an adorable fish print living in my cupboard just couldn't be ignored. I was compelled to make one last quilt before I sell my machine. Here is the final product. I think it turned out.... smashing!

Happy Birthday

This is my best friend Becca. Isn't she a doll ?! I have been able to experience her first year of life like I have never experienced any one's before. I knew when she first smiled, waved, said something we could call a word, crawled, stood, and gave kisses! I love her to bits. This week she turned one. Bless. We had a big party. Emily and Jayme rented out a room at the Twickenham Rugby Club overlooking the rugby pitch.

Even though the day was rainy, it was a glorious view.

Don't you agree?

Petersham

The Petersham is an amazing hotel and restaurant just on the edge of Richmond Hill by our house. We walk past it several times a week, it has been in dozens of pictures we have taken ... and we even purchased a large framed photograph that features the Petersham, Richmond Hill and the Thames. (Very similar to the above picture)

This year, as a holiday gift my parents gave us a dinner at the Petersham. We have been waiting for the day to get longer so we didn't have to eat at 4:30 to get the sunset. March seemed the perfect time. I got my hair done and we both got gussied up. Date night is wonderful. :)

Of course it was drizzling, but we strolled down to the Petersham...with our umbrellas! The building is stunning. The red brick is such a nice contrast to the green grass and the river. It is one of my favorite sites and I am always thrilled by how beautiful it looks.

We started the evening looking out over the river and the city from the lounge area. A decent cocktail is hard to come by in England, so just for fun I had a cosmopolitan. It was delicious and I wanted to lick the glass at the end of it, but that was just the start of wonderful food for the whole evening! I have some friends who are real foodies- they love food, can tell you how it was made, describe every element. I can't do any of that... but I can tell you it was amazing. I had parsnip soup, duck, and rice pudding. That is about all I can tell you... except that it was delicious!!!!! Wow. A little bit of heaven served on a plate. Lenny also loved his duck pate, sole, and chocolate melt cake.

Wonderful food is wonderful food. And you don't need to be a hard core foodie to appreciate it.

Hatfield Forest and Finchingfield

After the fun morning at Borough Market, I had to make the most of my little treasures. A picnic seemed like the perfect way! Lenny and I have a useful book titled 501 Great Days Out in the UK. A quick flip through the pages, and I found a little Forest located close to Standstead airport called Hatfield Forest. We packed up the car and headed out for a day of strolling through uncharted lands!

Hatfield Forest was a royal hunting forest in the early 12th century. Now, they have made it very visitor friendly with a small road, car park, and picnic area. We went out strolling the grounds for a few hours. Lenny got to play some catch with Chula and we searched for the former site of some huge old tree. Eventually we made our way back to the picnic area and enjoyed the cheese and olives from the market. Perfect!

Since we were in the area, we headed up to a small town called Finchingfield which is believed to be the most photographed village in England. When we got to see a perfect rainbow over the town church and pond... I believed them! I think I took enough photos to maintain their claim to fame!

Borough Market

I got up early this morning and went to Borough Market with Emily. First thing you need to know is that Emily cooks. It was my first time there, but Emily goes frequently. She loves Borough Market because she finds all kinds of amazing ingredients that she knows how to use!

We had such a fun morning. I started with some brunch from a sandwich vendor. Emily had some fresh oysters as her first meal of the day. Every stand had tastes and little bites available. Yummy! We started with 30 pounds in our purse. I thought that was way more than I would need... but my the end I was holding open my hand in front of a chocolate truffle stand saying, "I have 3.50 left. Can you make me an assortment for that??"

I came home with a wonderful bundle containing 3 amazing cheeses, olives, chocolate, rasberries, and a fig balsamic vinegar. What does a person do with cheese and olives? Make a picnic of course!

The Diner

Around the corner from our place is a parade of shops. There is a great little breakfast place called the Red Cafe, a small food shop for essentials, a little french bakery, our pub- the Marlborough, and an American diner! The Diner started a promotion for half price food on Tuesday nights. I am not saying we eat there every Tuesday... but.... :)

Lenny loves to get the biggest steak possible. If they are out of the huge steak, then he might get the Death Burger. I am very fond of a little steak or my new favorite... a hot dog! One of my favorite parts of the meal is the little salad that goes on the side and the jacket potato (that is just a baked potato, but they call it jacket. Is it cold? I don't think so!)

We went to the diner the other day and Lenny was able to get the T-bone steak. He was in heaven! As we finished up, I was thinking we could give the bone to Chula. We headed home to the cutest dog in the world... and gave her the T-bone from Lenny's steak. I don't have words to explain how excited she was!

In Lenny's wisdom... and maybe just to show how naive I am... he said, "Is this good for her? Should she really have this?" Just to be on the safe side, I looked online about giving dogs bones. Guess what? Everyone says - DON'T. What? She is a dog! But, I guess that is old school attitude. Modern dogs don't get many bones and have difficulty digesting them. humm. Who knew !?

Lenny out of town

Lenny went out of town this weekend to go skiing/boarding with some friends from work. What does it say about my transition to marriage that all I wanted to do was lock myself in the house and quilt all weekend!

To be honest~ I don't care! I had a wonderful weekend! I loved every minute of my quilt-fest.

Chula and I had a great girls' weekend. Friday night I had Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, Saturday night we ordered a large Pizza that lasted the rest of the weekend. I just sewed and sewed.

As you can see, the weekend was a huge success! Heather and Mauricio will get their wedding quilt before their 3 year anniversary!